The invention relates to excavating, but more particularly, the invention relates to metallic receptacles of wire for retaining excavated earthen balls.
Wire type baskets are used by nurserymen to retain excavated earthen balls which usually contain a tree or other shubbery. The earthen balls are commonly dug by a powered spade and then transferred to the wire basket. Usually, liners such as of burlap are first disposed in the basket to help further retain the earthen balls and keep them from crumbling. Some prior art baskets are of frusto-conical shape. An example of such a basket with a liner is disclosed in the periodical entitled American Nurserymen, Dec. 15, 1974, page 23.
After the ball is positioned within the basket, the wales are crimped or twisted with a tool to tighten the basket against the ball and minimize crumbling which may damage the root or hair rootlets of a plant contained within the ball.
While the prior art wire baskets offer reinforcement to an excavated earthen ball, they require time to shape the basket to fit the ball. Also, once the wales are twisted or crimped, they may loose much of their supporting strength. Oftentimes, the wales must be severely crimped to fit earthen balls such as dug by machines as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,364,601 as issued to Korenek. This is because the shape of the balls as dug by such a machine do not match the frusto-conical shape of the baskets.
The frusto-conical wire baskets require a liner capable of being severely deformed as the wires of the basket are crimped or twisted. Liners used for such baskets must be capable of being "taken in" in several directions. Such liners cannot offer firm support to the ball. For example, liners made of square woven burlap fabric must be pulled tightly around the ball to give full support. The weft and warp threads of the fabric must be tensioned to give the ball support in those areas between the stakes and wales of the wire basket. If the fabric is not properly tightened there is a tendency for the excavated earthen ball to crumble. Too much crumbling can damage the roots or hair rootlets of the excavated plant which in turn decreases the chance of survival during transplanting.